Free · Four mock papers and ten practice sets · One order to work them in

ESAT: Start Here

There are four full mock papers and ten five-question practice sets published free on this site, plus the shortcut library, the essentials guide and the diagnostic. That is a lot to land on with no order to it. This is the order, dated backwards from the October sitting.

Start with the diagnostic
Full ESAT hub
Not sure where to start? 8 places to go

Start with your question

Why visitors arrive: You have found a large pile of free ESAT material and do not know which part to do first, or when.

Your question: In what order, and by when, should I work through ESAT preparation?

You may also be asking

  • When is the October ESAT sitting?
  • Should I do full papers or single modules first?
  • Do I need to do all four papers and all ten practice sets?
  • I am starting late, what should I skip?
  • Which modules does my course actually require?

Where to go next

  • Nothing here is new material. Every link goes to a page already published on this site. This page is the sequence, not the content.
  • The dates move with the calendar. Each phase is anchored to the October sitting, so the windows below are the real ones for the current cycle, not last year's.
  • Start late without panicking. If you are arriving part way through, the phase marked you are here is where to pick up. Do not try to catch up on everything you missed: work forward from today.
  • Start early and the plan still fits. If your sitting is a year away, work phases one to four at your own pace and take the timed phases in the twenty weeks before your own October. The order does not change; only the time you have to spend on each part does, and a candidate with a year has the one thing this material rewards most.
  • Only work the modules your course requires. Mathematics 1 is compulsory for everyone. The other two depend on the course, and the requirements differ by department.
  • You cannot change modules on test day. That decision is made at booking, which is why phase one is about confirming it rather than practising.

The plan

Eight phases, roughly twenty weeks. Each one names what you are trying to achieve, what to work through, and how to tell when you are done with it.

  1. [01] · 25 May to 14 Jun 2026

    Work out what you are actually sitting

    Before any practice: confirm which three modules your course requires, and get a baseline you can measure against later.

    Done when you can name your three modules from your own course page, and you have a diagnostic score written down.

  2. [02] · 15 Jun to 5 Jul 2026

    Learn the methods before you drill them

    At about 89 seconds a question, method choice decides the score more often than the mathematics does. Read the shortcut library first, then work one full paper untimed.

    Done when you can name the faster route on a question before you start calculating.

  3. [03] · 6 Jul to 26 Jul 2026

    Mathematics 1 under the clock

    Mathematics 1 is compulsory for every candidate and is the module worth the most preparation. Two five-question practice sets at test pace, then the Mathematics 1 module of each full paper, 27 questions each with a timed test at the top of the page.

    Done when you finish a module inside 40 minutes without leaving anything blank.

  4. [04] · 27 Jul to 9 Aug 2026

    Mathematics 2 under the clock

    Skip this phase only if your course does not require Mathematics 2. Check the course page rather than assuming.

    Done when the Advanced Mathematics modules take you the same time as the Mathematics 1 ones did.

  5. [05] · 10 Aug to 23 Aug 2026

    Your science module under the clock

    Work only the subject your course requires. Doing all three is a way of feeling busy rather than getting better.

    Done when your chosen science module is within a couple of marks of your Mathematics 1 scores.

  6. [06] · 24 Aug to 13 Sep 2026

    Full papers, all modules in one sitting

    Two complete papers, sat end to end. Stamina and module switching are separate skills from the mathematics, and this is where they are built.

    Done when a full paper no longer leaves you slower on the last module than the first.

  7. [07] · 14 Sep to 27 Sep 2026 · you are here

    Last full paper, then re-measure

    One final paper under strict conditions, then sit the diagnostic again and compare it against the score you wrote down in phase one.

    Done when the second diagnostic is clearly ahead of the first. If it is not, the gap is a method problem, not a practice-volume problem.

  8. [08] · 28 Sep to 11 Oct 2026

    The final fortnight

    No new material. Revisit the formulas and the methods, work your own error log, and protect your sleep.

    Done when you stop learning and start arriving rested.

26 days until the October sitting opens on 12 October 2026.

Three things that decide the score

[01] Speed

89 seconds a question

Each module is 40 minutes and 27 multiple-choice questions, separately timed. That budget is the single most important number in ESAT preparation, and it is why the worked solutions here lead with the fastest correct route rather than the most complete one.

[02] Method

Recognition beats calculation

With no calculator and no formula sheet, the route you pick in the first ten seconds usually decides whether the remaining eighty are enough. The shortcut library exists to make that recognition automatic.

[03] Guessing

Never leave a blank

There is no negative marking. A blank scores zero and a guess scores an expected fifth of a mark, so leaving anything unanswered is a straightforward loss. Practise eliminating two options fast and committing.

Common questions about the sequence

  • I am starting in September, is it too late? No, but the plan changes shape. Skip straight to the practice sets in your compulsory subject, sit one full paper against the clock, and spend what is left on the questions you get wrong rather than on new material.
  • Should I work the papers or the practice sets first? The practice sets. Five questions in one subject is the quickest way to find out where you stand, and every set names the specification sub-topic each question was written against, so a wrong answer points at something to revise. Full papers come later, once stamina and module switching are the thing you are training.
  • Do I need to do all ten practice sets? No. Do the sets in the subjects your course requires, and none in the ones it does not.
  • What about ENGAA and NSAA past papers? Still useful. The ESAT replaced them and draws on the same material, so old papers are legitimate extra practice once you have exhausted what is here.
  • I am sitting another test as well. The pure mathematics overlaps heavily, so most of this plan still applies. There are separate pages for TMUA, MAT and STEP, each with free practice. Work the ESAT material first if the ESAT is the earlier sitting. If you came here looking for the PAT, Oxford retired it and now uses the ESAT, so this plan is the one you want.
  • How do I know the solutions are right? Every one is checked before publication against a documented standard. The quality assurance page sets out exactly what that check is.

For individual preparation. The free question sets on this site are for a candidate working on their own. They are not licensed for a school, college or tutoring provider to print and run with a class, to republish or resell, or to fold into a course sold by another provider. A school sitting a timed mock is welcome to the free sample pack, which comes with mark schemes and a syllabus reference, and a paper written for your own candidates and used nowhere else is a commissioned pack.

About this work

Lucas Rey, aerothermal systems engineer and academic tutor.

  • University of Oxford: DPhil Researcher, Thermofluids Institute.
  • University of Cambridge: Alumnus.
  • Rolls-Royce: Sponsored researcher (High-pressure turbine programme).

This site documents peer-reviewed research, open curriculum, and premium STEM mentorship in one interconnected portfolio.

Full biography & services · Contact

Where to go from here

Every paper, practice set and guide on this site is free to read. These are the things worth doing next.

The diagnostic and the practice sets linked above are free and stay free. One-to-one places are limited and taken by application, not by the hour.